Hero
by TheWesternRadiation
Summary: When Percy gets mugged, he has to return home to his family, and they find out the hard way. How will Annabeth handle it? Guess you'll have to read and find out.


**(A/N: Hello! So this is my first one-shot. The idea actually came to me while I was lying in bed, trying to sleep. That's the only time I ever get good ideas. There is some mild language in this one, so keep your head down. I really wanted to read something angst-y, but I couldn't find what fit my parameters. So I made this! It's a bit mushy, but... *shrug*)**

"Mommy, when will daddy be home?", Annabeth heard her four year old son ask. He was sitting on the floor in front of the TV drawing, where Annabeth was watching a documentary on _The Secret Life of Marine Animals_. She knew Percy would approve of that one.

"He should be home at any time, Cole." She smiled at him, because he gave her a pouty face. She checked the time on her phone. 5:51 p.m. Percy should be back from his lesson any minute. He worked as a marine biologist there in New York, and he was talking to some college kids that day who thought they wanted to be marine biologists, as well.

"I want to show daddy what I drew today." He lifted up a piece of paper with a crudely drawn fish of multiple colors. She gasped like it was a priceless piece of art from a museum.

"It's beautiful! You did not draw that, that's been made by an artist." She kept the sarcasm out of her voice. Her son clearly couldn't tell, or didn't care, because his face beamed with pride.

"Nope. I made it.", he looked very happy with himself. At that moment, she could hear a key turning the lock in the front door. The door pushed open, and her husband walked into the apartment. Cole jumped up with his picture, and ran to greet his dad at the door.

"Daddy, daddy, look! I drew a fish today." Percy's face lit up with a smile, and his green eyes were bright. He lifted up his son and rested him on his arm, walking to the table with his things. Or as Annabeth realized, he limped to the table. She got up to greet him.

"Hey!", she said cheerfully, giving him a short peck on the lips. As she pulled away, his arm looped behind her back, and he pulled her in for a real kiss, one that made her feel like they were being reunited after a long time away from each other, their son still on his arm. She put her hands on his shoulders and pulled away when Cole yelled 'ew'. She smiled at Percy.

"What's with you in a good mood? And did you hurt your leg or something?" He set his shoulder bag on the table, and began walking to the kitchen. His limp was slight, but enough to tell it was there.

"I'm just… thankful.", he filled a cup full of water and began to drink it. Annabeth laughed like she'd never heard that before. She walked to the kitchen and leaned in the doorway.

"Okay, Mr. Thankful, I guess then you'll be happy to know that I'm too lazy to cook, so I'm gonna order a pizza." Percy put his glass down in the sink, and Annabeth thought she saw the slightest glimpse of a wince on his face, but she couldn't be sure. "And you never answered my question. About your leg.", she said innocently. He just shrugged.

"I dropped an oxygen tank, and it hit my leg while it dropped. Those things get pretty heavy.", he said. She raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you were lecturing students today. You just carry those gas tanks around with you everywhere?", she joked.

"Oh, uh… yeah the professor called of the lecture because he had some 'family emergency'. So I just went to the office and did research and took care of the animals."

"Oh.. okay. Hey, have you seen my wallet? I think Cole might've hidden it or something." She walked off toward their room, in search of it.

"Too ashamed to admit you probably just lost it?", he called. He heard her laugh. That laugh that he loved so much.

"Shut it, Seaweed Brain. Okay, I can't find it, how much cash do you have on you?" He felt blood rise to his face and ears. How should he tell her what happened?

"Um.. I don't have any." She reappeared in the kitchen entrance, leaning against the wall.

"Gee, usually you're the one who has the cash between the two of us." He felt the question coming before she even asked it. "Can I just use your credit card?" He entered a slight panic.

"Y'know, I'm not actually that hungry." She looked surprised.

"Percy, it's pizza. You would never turn down pizza, surely.", she looked amused.

"Yea, well I just don't feel like eating right now."

"Are you okay? You've been acting weird since you walked in the door." He rubbed his leg nervously.

"I'm fine.", he stated. She took a step forward.

"Are you sure?", she looked concerned.

"Yes."

"Well, I'm just wondering because-"

"Annabeth, I said I'm fine."

"See, now you're getting all defensive."

"I got mugged! Okay?!" He put up his hands in defense. "I don't have my wallet, because I was robbed!" He immediately regretted the way he broke it to her, because her eyes were widened with shock, and her brows were knit. Her classic look of worry.

"...What?", she asked quietly. She walked up to him and touched his shoulder. "Are you hurt? What happened? Is that why you're limping?" He just sighed.

"Look, I already got the company to cancel my card, I called them. So the guy's not gonna be spending anything." She shook her head.

"Percy, I don't give a damn about the card. Are _you_ okay? Please tell me what happened." She looked ready to cry. Her cheeks and eyes were turning red.

"What's there to say? I was walking to get a cab, and the guy was waiting for me. He made off with my wallet, and I walked home." One question was really tugging at her.

"Did he have a gun?" When he just looked down and grabbed her hand reassuringly, she knew. "He did, didn't he?" She could feel the first tear treacherously fall down her cheek, and more soon followed.

"Did you fight back?", she asked. Percy sighed.

"I can't hide anything from you, can I?", he whispered. Annabeth looked ready to drop.

"I-I need to sit down." Percy looked around the kitchen, and found the nearest wooden chair covered in with papers and other junk. He shoved all of it to the floor and slid the chair across the linoleum for her to sit on. He squatted next to her, so they were at eye level.

"You fought back. When he had a gun." She looked angry, and hurt, and confused. Her grey eyes bore into his. He nodded.

"How could you _do_ that?!", she pushed on his shoulder, and he fell back to a sitting position on the floor, supported by his arms behind him.

"I don't know, I guess I was just thinking of you and Cole...", she looked up to the ceiling. Apparently the sight of her husband was too much for her right now.

"If you were thinking of us, then you shouldn't have fought back! Percy, he had a gun! A _gun!_ He could've just pulled the trigger and… and then you would've..", her voice came out ragged and uneven. She looked into his eyes, and saw they were full of sorrow and regret.

"Annabeth, it all just happened so fast. We struggled over the gun, he kicked me in the knee. And then, um..", he didn't look like he wanted to finish his sentence with Annabeth in this state.

"What? Are you hurt somewhere else, too?" Without a word, he lifted up his shirt to his chest, where there was a large purple and yellow bruise, in the rough shape of a footprint. She covered her mouth to prevent a gasp.

"I just… I can't even believe this right now." She tried to steady her breathing.

"Mommy?", their son walked sheepishly into the kitchen. "Mommy, are you okay?" She tried to answer, but her throat was tight from the tears, so whatever she tried to say just came out as a croak.

"Look, bud.", Percy said. "Why don't you go watch some TV, alright? Mommy's fine, she'll be out in a minute." Cole seemed reluctant, but finally he meandered back into the living room.

"Annabeth.", he prodded. She didn't answer, just stared at the floor by her feet. "Look, Annabeth, I don't know what you want me to say." She stood from her chair suddenly, and Percy had to stand to avoid being dwarfed.

"And I don't know what I want to hear! But I will tell you,", she poked his chest every time she put emphasis on a word, harder each time,", that was _stupid_ … that was _reckless…_ and that was SELFISH!" By the last word, her poke turned into a light shove. She breathed heavily, her jaw clenched, waiting for his response.

He simply grabbed her by her shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug, rubbing her back. He could feel her hot tears seeping into his dark shirt, and her voice came out steadier than it had been.

"If anything had happened to you, I don't know what I… what _we_ would've done, Percy, me and Cole. You're everything to me, and I couldn't imagine if something…", she couldn't finish her sentence. Percy just moved his hand in circular motions on her back soothingly. After a minute or so, he broke the silence.

"So… are we still on for pizza?" He could feel her smile against his chest when she laughed.

* * *

His eyes shot open when he heard the front door open and close. He remembered putting Cole to bed, and Annabeth was sleeping soundly next to him in bed, so he had no idea who could be coming in the middle of the night. Maybe Jason was stumbling in drunk. It wouldn't be the first time that that's happened. Carefully, he moved Annabeth's arm from his abdomen, and climbed out of bed, dressed only in pajama pants. He quietly cracked open the door to the hallway, and slipped through it.

As he turned to walk toward the living room, he didn't have time to register the shadowy figure rapidly approaching him. He felt a sharp pain in his nose, and the next thing he knew, he was on the ground, looking up at a stranger. He remembered the harsh brown eyes, the rough skin bitten by the sun, the menacing expression… the gun. It was his assailant. Percy's mind raced at a million miles an hour. _How does he know where I live? Did he follow me home?_ He was too shocked to act, but when the man walked into his bedroom, it snapped him out of it pretty quick. Faster than lightning, he stood up and made a grab for the gun as the man stood next to the bed. They wrestled for it, and Percy was too preoccupied focusing on keeping it pointed away from himself that he didn't notice where it was pointing when the gun went off.

Terrified, he looked toward the bed, where his wife lay, blood seeping into the sheets on top of her. A single bullet wound could be seen right in the middle of her chest: her heart.

Percy dropped to his knees and cried out in agony. It was his fault. He had killed his Wise Girl. Annabeth… He stared into her dying eyes, still beautifully grey as ever, and realized she was weakly gesturing to their son's room. Too late Percy realized what she meant when he heard the second shot pierce the night.

Percy screamed, and awoke in a cold sweat. He looked next to him in bed, where Annabeth began to stir. He clutched at his chest, feeling his heart desperately trying to pound its way out of his chest.

"Oh, shit… shit..", he mumbled, crawling out of bed and pacing around the room.

"Percy?", Annabeth called, her voice groggy. "Percy, what's wrong?" He couldn't answer her, he was in a state of shock, hyperventilating. He left the room, and he managed to make it as far as the living room before his knees buckled out from under him. He put his hands on the back of his head, leaned forward, and let loose the tears.

Annabeth climbed out of bed, threw on her robe, and quickly walked after him. She found him crying on his knees, forehead touching the carpeted ground. Gently, she put her hand on his shoulder and kneeled next to him.

"Oh, Percy…", she said. She had never seen him like this, and it made her sad. It also made her angry. Not at him, but the horrible man that did this to him. Her usually happy, caring husband was now an emotional mess on the floor.

"I-It was just a nightmare. You can go back to bed.", he said unevenly. Annabeth just sat there.

"Percy, you know damn well that I'm not going to bed and leaving you like this." He didn't respond. "You wanna tell me what happened?" Finally, when his breathing slowed, he sat on the ground, leaning against the back of the couch. The only light was coming from the kitchen, where Annabeth had turned it on. She grasped his hand, and rubbed it encouragingly.

"Was it about you being mugged?", she asked gently. He shook his head.

"It was so _real_ , Annabeth…", he proceeded to tell her about the dream, about how her and their son's death was his fault. She looked pained from hearing this.

"Percy, none of that happened. I'm still here to love you, and Cole is still in his room to be loved.", he put his face in his hands and shook his head.

"Annabeth, I..", he began, "I feel like a failure. As a husband and a father. Like I couldn't protect either of you if it came down to it." She was taken aback by his words. She had never seen him like this, and frankly, she hated it.

"Percy.", she said, sternly. He kept his face in his hands and sighed slowly.

"Percy Jackson, you look at me when I'm talking to you." Slowly, he slid his hands from his face, revealing redding eye, and another tear running down his jaw.

"You. Are. _Not._ A failure. As a husband OR a father." She stared very intently into his eyes. "I could not ask for a better husband. You're always there to comfort me if I'm upset; If I ever need anything, no matter how small, you're always at attention to help me however you can; I know you must care by the way you drag yourself out of bed every morning to go to work from seven to five, even if you're not feeling your best."

You bring that paycheck home so you can keep a roof above our heads, above _his_ head." She pointed to their son's room. "He looks up to you, Percy. You are his _whole world_. His hero. How many times have you heard him say that he wants to be just like you when he grows up?" He realized it was a question she wanted an answer for by the way she stared at him.

"Too many to count.", he said quietly. She continued to stare into his eyes to drive her point home.

"You have not failed me, or Cole. Do you understand me?", her voice was steady, but it was full of emotion. He could tell her seeing him like this was hurting her.

"Annabeth..", he pulled her into a tight hug, which she returned. "I love you. So much it hurts." They stayed like that for awhile before she pulled away.

"Do you think you're ready to try sleep again?", she asked.

"Hell no.", he admitted. She took his hand and guided him to the couch, where she made him lie down, and she cuddled up next to him. She rubbed his bare stomach soothingly.

"Percy.", she whispered after a silence.

"Yeah?"

"You're not just Cole's hero. You're mine, too.", she soon drifted off to sleep in his arms. Percy relaxed, feeling her steady breathing. Knowing that she was okay. What would he do without her? He didn't know, but he knew that didn't matter. She was his, and he was hers. Her hero.

He felt his eyelids get heavy, and he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.


End file.
